


Dread

by baltiwhore



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Boyfriends, BoyxBoy, F/F, F/M, Gay Male Character, Harry Potter POA, Humor, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Prisoner of Azkaban, Romance, boy/boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-25 23:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18172580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baltiwhore/pseuds/baltiwhore
Summary: Jude Ring is a lonely, confused and questioning 13 year old boy, all he knows his family, his handful of friends he's made at Ilvermorny, and the perfect routine he's created for himself to follow.But when an unknown course of events causes his mother to become uncharacteristically unnerved and suddenly move them back to the place where they were born-London-and he finds himself attending Hogwarts, an incredible amount of secrets he could have never dreamed of being true or having to do with him and his family begin to surface, and Jude begins to question whether he's ever known anything at all.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Something was always not right.

 

There were countless discrepancies in all the stories and family history Jude's mother presented forth, but he could never prove her wrong, so he just had to accept them all as fact.

 

And even when Jude went through almost the entirely of primary school not knowing magic courses through his veins, something didn't feel right in the moments before. And when he went to Ilvermorny, and was sorted into Thunderbird and made loads of amazing friends, something still felt off.

 

Jude consistently found himself awake at night, wondering what could be wrong—maybe he'd forgotten something, but he remembered everything, and if he thought he couldn't remember something he'd write it down—but everything, seemingly, was in its right place. Perhaps his intuition was unreasonable.

 

The summer before the next term started, Jude intended to meet with his friends and socialize, although, within the first week he found himself bound to his bed, and in the backyard with his muggle music player. He particularly enjoyed listening to Queen and Oasis and moving to stare at the curiously dark water that stretched far beyond the dock near his house.

 

The wood moaned beneath his brother's converse as he went to seat himself next to his younger brother.

 

''Do you know how many letters your friends wrote you so far? It's only been a week." He laughed, his eyes lowered to Jude's CD player laying next to him.

 

"A Night At The Opera." He read with a laugh.

 

Jude exhaled and punched the pause button. "What, Max?"

 

"What are you listening to?"

 

Jude pinched the skin on his thigh and released it. "I'm In Love With My Car."

 

"What?" Max chortled.

 

"It's a fucking song!" Jude replied aggressively. "Max, tell me what you want or leave me the hell alone."

 

"Jesus, what's got your panties in a twist?" Max exclaimed, poking his younger brother in the face. Jude swatted at his hand.

 

"Nothing. I'm just... irritated."

 

"Clearly... why?"

 

Jude squeezed his eyes shut and selected his next words carefully. "Something's... going to happen. And I'm going to be upset about it. Like, really upset about it. And I don't know what it is, or when it's going to happen. I'm just... pissed I don't know how to prepare for bad news so I'm sulking."

 

Max snorted. "That's why Professor Callaghan loved you in divination. You always had a feeling about something—like when you said a part of a very important person's soul was being killed last year?"

 

Jude flushed at the reminder. "I was 12."

 

"Yeah, and you're 13 now. What's the difference?" He laughed, clutching his stomach. "He's completely obsessed with you! He genuinely believes that you could potentially be the next divination teacher— that's wicked–wicked—fucking hilarious!"

 

Jude frowned at his hands. He did get an awful feeling the year prior. And he got a really bad dream. The same vision of an abnormally large fang piercing an ordinary black journal and blood spurting out of it never left his vision. He was so desperate to know what it meant, that he showed his divination professor through his pensieve, and his teacher was so enthralled with the notion that Jude could potentially be a Seer, that he showed all his classes the vision over and over again.

 

To Professor Callaghan's dismay, no signs that Jude's dream even occurred surfaced—unfortunately, that wasn't enough to get him to him give up on Jude.

 

"I came to tell you mom wanted to tell us something." Max eventually got out. And then realization dawned on him. Jude felt like a rude bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on him. They shared a look, and Jude gathered his things and shoved them into his backpack before standing up with his brother, and started in the direction of their cottage near the water.

 

Their mother was in the kitchen, baking a blueberry pie, their favorite, as she hummed as she usually did when she baked. Although, he instantly tell that there was something off by the way she crooning that day. The bad news, he supposed. 

 

She waved her wand, then the oven door fell open and the warm pie flew out and placed itself on the counter, where she murmured a spell and a flurry of wind rushed from her wand and cooled the pie. Likely to perfection, because everything their mother did was perfect.

 

She wordlessly cut into it and conjured a perfect slice of blueberry pie and slid it into a piece of china before handing it to Jude and then doing to same for Max.

 

While Jude started at his pie apprehensively and his brother tore into his like an animal, his mother gulped and wrung her hands before clearing her throat.

 

"Boys, I have something I'd like to tell you." She spoke in a quieter tone, her eyes moved back to the pie before she cut herself a slice and raised her fork in the air before it.

 

"You... know how you were both born in Liverpool?" She asked, just as her fork swung down and took a piece of the pie. She lifted it to her cherry red lips and chewed it quickly and swallowed it with equal speed. "Well... we're moving back to London in a month or so... because... I've accepted a teaching position at the school in Scotland; Hogwarts."

 

Jude released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and his heart stopped in his chest. His hand wound itself into a fist. He wanted to shout at his mother who'd worriedly shoveled another piece of her incredible blueberry pie into her mouth, but he couldn't find it himself to, despite the rage building behind his eyes.

 

Max spoke first, and his face was void of expression. That terrified Jude.

 

"Mom... why would you... do that?" Max got out politely.

 

Their mother sighed. "I really need to be back... something happened. I want to be there for it. I can't delve into it any deeper than that... I'm sorry boys... please try to understand."

 

Understand what? How she was ripping Jude away from his only friends and the only things he's ever known? He doesn't remember a thing about London, or Scotland that matter. He felt utterly betrayed. He was at a loss for words.

 

He stood up and soundlessly left the room, and entered his own bedroom, pulled his CD player out of his backpack and began to listen to Queen once more, and ignore all the anger he felt rippling through him.

 

His mother frowned at the untouched pie he left on the counter.

 

•••


	2. Chapter 2

If there was one thing Jude hated more than something that was in any way disorderly, it was the fact that whenever he felt emotionally overwhelmed he couldn't do anything about it—he couldn't write, or verbally vent, or draw or anything—all he could do was burst apart at the seams, like water shooting from a geyser. No amount of screaming or hair-pulling could ever satisfy the feelings of helplessness and confusion and uncertainty he was experiencing. 

Jude had no idea how to cope with the news; he couldn't change his mother's decision, so he therefore could not control the situation. And so, he was in the midst of an anxiety attack. He'd curl up into a fetal position and thud his head onto the wall next to his bed until it bruised, because if he couldn't control his circumstances, at least he could control his pain.

He found himself being tugged away from the wall by Max who stared at the black and blue bruise on his younger brother's forehead that was beginning to form. 

"Jude... what the... what's wrong?" Max asked, head spinning. He'd always freaked out when he found his brother having an anxiety attack, and always felt guilty because he never knew how to help. He guided his brother into a hug that wasn't in any way constricting, as Jude steadied his breathing and watering eyes. 

"I... don't... know..." he said slowly, attempting to gather his swirling thoughts before they slipped out of his reach. "I lost control. So I found something else to control."

Max didn't completely understand what his brother was saying, but continued hug him until Jude was prodding at his chest and Max begrudgingly relinquished his hold as Jude opted to lay atop the mound of pillows resting on his bed in exhaustion. 

"You know mom really does feel bad," Max tried, rubbing his brother's bruised forehead with his thumb. He couldn't help but feel guilty, even though he obviously didn't do anything wrong. He especially didn't want his younger brother to feel like that, helpless and numb. "She didn't bring this up or explain it to me before telling you, but, maybe it won't be so bad. Look on the bright side: we've never been outside of Mass, and now we're going to Europe... that's kinda cool, isn't it?" 

Jude glanced at his brother expressionlessly. "Max, I don't know how to feel right now. I don't know what to do."

"You don't need to do anything," Max replied quickly with a frown, "just relax and write to your friends and hang out with them as much as you can before we leave and during the next summer you can visit them and they can visit us; and Jude, you'll definitely make friends at Hogwarts... oh, you know Harry Potter goes there, right?" 

Jude made a face. "You know I don't really care for magical politics." 

Max sighed. "Yes. I was trying to take your mind away from... wherever it is, right now."

Jude smiled to himself. Despite all the fighting and screaming matches he consistently found himself in with his brother, they were always there for each other. And he wasn't sure if it was normal for brothers to be so close, but he was immensely grateful for his, whom would do anything to put Jude at ease and vice versa. 

"Thank you, Max." Jude said almost silently after a large pregnant pause. "I'm okay now..."

Max reddened. "Y-yeah, of course, yeah, I know. I came in to tell you dinner is ready, actually, so, do you want to come out or for me to bring you a plate or...?"

"No, I'll come out and apologize for upsetting mom." Jude said, and Max blinked in surprise. Jude was never one to apologize first; he was typically stubborn and exceedingly head strong, and because of this, was consequently extremely immature in nature, but, more recently, Max observed, Jude had realized how old he was and that he would need to become more mature and be the bigger person.

Jude wasn't expecting to see a bag on the marble coffee table in the living room from Barnes & Noble, or his mother's face of total guilt and sorrow. His heart dropped into his stomach, and he knew his face likely mirrored an expression similar to his mother's. 

Jude sighed. "Mom, I'm really sorry about storming out of the kitchen like a baby. You don't need to feel bad. I'm a child and you're the adult. You make the decisions, and I oblige by them, I know you only want what's best for us. And... you didn't have to get me anything. I understand."

His mother's eyes pooled with tears yet to be shed and she let out a few pathetic gasps before tucking her youngest son into her arms and softly sobbing into the crook of his neck. 

"I-I'm s-so sorry, sw-sweetheart." She wept, "I-I'll d-do a-anything t-to m-make y-you fe-feel be-better."

"Mom, stop it." Jude frowned. "I'm fine. Stop worrying about me. I promise I'll be alright. I can take care of myself. I can suck it up; I promise." 

Jude felt embarrassed because he had a faint idea of why his mother could be reacting so dramatically: whenever his mother had made a decision with similar intensity to this one, Jude would throw a tantrum and wail until he got his way. He would guilt her horribly until he ended up being satisfied and lost interest in the reason why he was upset in the first place. Jude disliked the torment he subjected his mother to as a spoiled youth and vowed to be compliant and obedient henceforth.

She sniffled and departed from her strangling, "I love you, Jude. I'm so sorry I had to do this. I promise I'll make it up to you both however I can. I bought you a book on space." She directed his gaze to the coffee table. 

"Mom... you didn't need to waste your money on that." Jude replied, stomach knotting with guilt. 

She looked at him incredulously. "I didn't waste my money. I know you'll read it over and over, plus, I want you to tell me what you learned from it."

He grinned. "Thanks, mom."

•••

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOGWARTS?!" Tati screamed theatrically, grasping Jude's shoulders tightly whilst rocking the both of them back and forth so violently, it made Jude's head spin. 

"Jesus, Tati, don't kill him." Paris grinned, prying Tati's claws out of Jude's shoulders. 

"I'm not, but how did you fail to mention this sooner?!" She screeched, unarguably higher than Jude's owl, Helena. Jude winced and massaged his temples. He should've known the moment Tati and Paris got his letter they'd floo over as soon as they possibly could—he'd sent the letter last night, for God's sake! 

Jude threw his hands in the air, "I didn't know until, like, 3 days ago! Calm down!" 

Tati froze, and turned to him with the most sinister glare he'd ever seen. He gulped. "Don't tell me to calm down, Jude." 

"Alright, alright, sorry." He spoke, waving his hands in front of him defensively. 

Then Tati frowned and flung her arms around Jude once more. "Juuuuuuude! I'm gonna miss you so much! Who's gonna help Paris sneak into the girls dorm? You know he's not smart enough to do that on his own—"

"—hey—!" 

"—Jude please don't leave. We can't be a trio with just two people! That's a-a duo! Don't make our trio into a duo!"

Jude couldn't help but laugh at how scandalized Tati sounded. She pouted and sophomorically stomped her feet. "Jude what about...Josh!?"

Jude's cheeks flushed. "Tati, stop." 

She smirked, rubbing her hands together villainously. "Bullseye. Jude. What about, Josh?" 

Josh. 

Jude couldn't place the exact moment he felt such intense desire for him—or anyone, for that matter—he couldn't place where it began, but he could retrace his steps back to first year in the restricted section of the library. Jude fondly recalled snapping at Josh, referring to him as a "absolute fucking moron," due to the fact Josh had knocked over a lamp and drew all the attention possible to the both of them, and earned them two weeks' worth of detention. Josh continued to tease and pester him until Jude had no choice but to let him in and accept his companionship, and shortly after that, Tati and Paris. 

Josh was intense. 

But he supposed Josh didn't really matter anymore; besides, they weren't dating, and a long distance relationship in two different countries wasn't practical. They would have to remain what they'd always been: friends. And even though Jude knew the sting would gradually fade, it was still profound in his chest.

"Jesus, Tati, you made him sad." Paris grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Tati began to stammer guiltily, "J-Jude, I'm so sorry, don't be sad, I love you, you know we love you, I was just trying to lighten you up and kinda get you to reconsider—"

"It's fine, Tati, I understand," Jude said, tone clipped. Tati made a face. She knew that voice all too well. "No, really. I get it. I'd... been putting that off. And now I need to think about it, and... write him." 

They both nodded in understanding, and offered him their consolidation and support, and reassured him that they would remain friends for as long as humanly possible, by exchanging letters frequently, for the remainder of the summer and stretching into the school year. 

Moments later, on the dock next to the cottage, he had a vision, and entered a trance-like state. His friends couldn't say that this was something new to them, and they'd always wait for him to come back and inform them of what he'd seen.

"I saw..." Jude started, struggling for words, "a huge black dog... it was a dog, but too large to be a domesticated one, but too small to be a common wolf..."

"...an animagus?" Paris suggested smartly. 

Jude ruffled his own hair. "...maybe... the dog was looking for someone, and I was looking down at what he was doing, like, in the scene, you know? And, I swear to God, I saw it going toward either me or Max, and before it could do anything else I came back." 

They all contemplated this for a moment. Ever since Jude had proved that he could, in fact, see into the future, whenever Jude had a vague dream or vision, they would always attempt to decipher what it could mean. 

"I don't know, dude." Paris shrugged, then rubbed his arms. "Is it just me, or did it just get, like 20° colder?"

Jude rolled his eyes. "Why do you guys have an obsession with invading my room?"

Tati grinned. "Truthfully, I just want you to write Josh and invite him over."

Jude's eyes widened a tremendous amount and he flushed, eyes darting back and forth nervously. "Haha... how about no?"

Jude tended to push things he didn't want to think about into a tiny file cabinet in the corner of his mind. He especially didn't want to think about Josh, or wonder if he'd get mad at Jude or hate him or miss him or like someone else when he's gone? Jude tiredly rubbed at his eyes. 

"I don't want to write him." He spoke. 

Tati pouted, "Whyyyyy?"

"You know why. Stop, Tati." Jude grumbled, eyes downcast at the calm, murky water. 

"Whatcha listening to?" She yanked an earphone out of his ear and stuffed it in her own before grinning in approval. 

"Fuck yeah, Green Day!"

•••

Jude would be leaving the only house, only state, only country he'd ever known the day after. He couldn't help but stare up at the ceiling questioningly, almost expecting an answer, when sleep grasped him in its clutches then slowed his breathing and darkened his vision. 

Jude was peaceful, for a while, before a nightmare hit him like a wave: a vision of a hippogriff being executed. He scowled scornfully. Jude definitely didn't believe the ministry had any right to put anything or anyone's life to an end. 

He shot out of bed like a bullet, hot sweat pouring down his temples. He rubbed his eyes and examined the time on his digital clock. 2:06.  He laid back down and stared at the ceiling once more, exhausted, but too disturbed to fall back into slumber. 

He thought about what life at Hogwarts would be like—if British people were any more rude than people from Massachusetts, what it'd be like to be completely surrounded by people who spoke with British accents besides his mother, would he develop an accent?—and it didn't scare him like it had before, because he had at least a faint idea of what it would be like, and at least an idea was good enough for Jude. 

He rubbed his forehead, where the bruise had just disappeared the last morning, and sighed, racking a hand through his hair, matted with sweat. It was then he noticed his trembling hand, and how his eyes had become fully accustomed to the darkness. 

In a matter of seconds, he was submerged in yet another vision, this time, he could hear a woman's deafening shriek, and a curiously familiar black haired boy falling unconscious. He tried to grasp the surrounding but all he could focus on was the expression of the boy laying on the ground, and the yell he was shielding his ears from. 

He noticed his mother in the doorway, appearing horrified. She rushed toward him instantly, enveloping him in a hug. 

"Mom—"

"Oh my poor, beautiful, angel, are you okay?! What was—what just happened?! Did you have a seizure?!Oh my god!—"

"—mom—"

"You were shaking! That was something straight out of a horror movie! My god! You gave me a fright! Do we need to go to the hospital?!??—"

"MOM!" Jude nearly shrieked. His mother paused and turned to look at her son with widened eyes. 

"Mom. I'm fine. That happens a lot." Jude explained half heartedly. His mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his vague reply. 

"What happens a lot, Jude? What aren't you telling me—or rather—what haven't you been telling me?" Perhaps the shock of seeing her son convulse and shake had washed away and it wasn't early enough for his mother to lose any grasp of her aggravatingly excellent detective skills.

He gulped, wringing his fingers aggressively, to the point where his knuckles turned white and his fingers purple and his mother had to rip them apart. 

"I... well... remember how I got the highest grades in divination even though it wasn't my best subject? Yeah... well... one time, I knew Max was going to cheat on one of Professor Callaghan's tests because I just, saw it. And Professor Callaghan made me show him my memory of seeing Max cheat before he cheated? So I was his, like, favorite student all year and he always gave my predictions top marks to matter what I—It's confusing, I know." The expression on his mother's face is unrecognizable. His mother never wore a face like that, and Jude didn't know how to respond. 

She opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it again. "That... makes a lot of sense. You used to do strange things when you were younger... out of the ordinary for even us." 

"What do you mean?" Jude asked desperately. 

"W-well, when you were maybe 6 or 7, you specifically asked for Hot Wheels, but I got you Matchbox cars... and before you even opened your present... you were so irritated. You wouldn't open it, and when I asked you why, you said I got you the wrong ones."

Jude blinked. He couldn't remember that at all... or maybe he did and it was too early, or maybe he already went through it in his mind and passed it off as normal. 

"And you knew—you, you knew something bad was happening on—" his mother cut herself off, raising a hand to her mouth, looking as though she were holding back tears. 

"On what? When?" Jude inquired roughly, gripping his mother's shoulder. 

When she didn't answer, he felt himself grow angrier by the second. "Mom! What are you talking about!?"

She exhaled shakily and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Jude, thank you for telling me this. I love you." 

And with that, she practically sprinted out the door, shutting it, and Jude was forced to gaze at the popcorn on his ceiling once more. 

•••


	3. Chapter 3

When Jude woke up the next morning, and knew what Hogwarts houses him and his brother would be sorted into. 

"You're going to be in Slytherin, Max," Jude said tiredly over chocolate chip waffles the next morning, "and I'm going to be in Ravenclaw." 

His mother gasped and squealed, dropping the plastic measuring cup in the sink. "Oh my GOD! Jude! I was in Ravenclaw! Oh my god, oh my god!" She ran around the counter and embraced him tightly. He dramatically gasped for breath. 

"Hey, what about Slytherin, mom?" Max huffed with crossed arms. 

"My first boyfriend was in Slytherin, Maxie." Their mother giggled, to which they both made faces of disgust. 

"I can't believe today's the day!" She continued, exclaiming happily, with her hands clasped together.  

Jude merely sighed and laid his cheek on the counter in partial fatigue and sadness. For some strange reason unbeknownst to him, his mother was eerily optimistic about their departure from the only life Jude and Max had ever known. There had to be something waiting in Europe for their mother that she just wasn't telling them about. 

"Oh my god, I can't wait to see you in your cute little Hogwarts robes!" She gushed further. 

"Mom, we're going to be late, you wanted us to take the train, right?" Max pointed out, motioning to a clock in the kitchen. Their mother gasped, and ushered them to the living room where their trunks and owls were resting idly. 

"Okay, Jude, you have your plastic bag ready? We're apparating, remember, honey?" 

Max snickered at the plastic bag Jude clutched in his hands with white knuckles and grit teeth. He was not, in any way, looking forward to this. 

"Okay, one, two—" before she had even made it to three, Jude's stomach flipped upside down as they twisted and turned and eventually appeared in King's Cross station. Jude turned to a nearby garbage bin as opposed to the plastic bag his mother supplied him to empty his guts into. 

"Boys, hurry, we're going to be late—" 

"Mom, this platform doesn't exist." Jude said with an air of diffidence, feebly motioning to his ticket. 

"Yes, it does. But only for us." She winked, and motioned to a brick pillar. 

Her sons stared at her incredulously, as if to ask just what the fuck that meant. She rolled her eyes and pushed her eldest son into the pillar while Jude watched with a dropped jaw as Max inelegantly stumbled through it as though were made of nothing. 

"What the—did you—Max—" Jude stammered, wide-eyed. 

"You next, Jude." She grinned maliciously, moving her hands in his direction. Jude quickly composed himself and took off in a sprint toward the pillar and passed through, and when he made it out onto the other side, the scarlet red engine tooted, and he gawked at the sea children and parents alike was dense and full of wailing and embraces. 

Jude understood why his mother didn't say goodbye—for one, it wasn't goodbye at all, and their mother believed to say goodbye meant it was forever—they'd see each other at Hogwarts, when Max and Jude, to their utter embarrassment, would get sorted with the eleven year olds. He shook his head, and moseyed onto the train, squaring away his trunk, he walked up and down the aisles of the train, and eventually reverted his gaze to the scabby and red flesh of his knuckles before colliding into another person. 

"Watch where you're going." The pale boy snapped and shoved Jude aside before he could even apologize. 

"Fuck off." Jude scoffed in irritation, having absolutely no time for rude British assholes, shoving his hands into his pockets with a scowl. 

"Wait." The other boy said, this time gentler, prompting Jude to spin around on his heel and stare at him with raised brows.

"Pardon my ill manners," he said first, "and, I couldn't help but notice your accent?"

Jude furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm.. American? If that's what you're referring to?" 

The boy's pale face stretched into a pleasant smile. "So you're Jude Ring, then. Our mothers were acquainted when your mother lived here. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Draco Malfoy." 

Jude stared at his hand, feeling a wave of nausea hit him. How was it that a complete stranger knew his name? And what did that mean, acquainted? If Draco Malfoy and his family were significant, surely his mother would have mentioned them. Jude wondered if other classmates would stop him and announce his whole name to him as though he didn't know it himself. 

Jude grasped Draco's hand lightly, not keen on holding it for a second more than necessary. "Likewise."

"Would you like to sit with my friends and I?" Draco offered politely. Jude concealed his wary grimace and declined as amicably as he could, and informed the boy he was going to search for his brother. 

Draco shrugged, "Fine. You can join us if you change your mind."

Jude made sure to keep his head up when he started back on his journey to locate his brother, when he finally found him, though, he was with a bunch of other kids, and Jude immediately felt embarrassed at the fact that Max was more social in 10 minutes than he was in all his 13 years of life. 

Before Jude could find a secluded, empty compartment, Max caught sight of him and motioned for him to enter. Jude obliged with tentativeness and forced a smile on his face. 

"This is my brother Jude."

Jude greeted with a somewhat confident, "hey," where he was then yanked down into a seat and thrusted into a conversation about life in America and Ilvermorny. 

"You blokes know about Harry Potter, don't you?" A red head named George (who also, to Jude's misfortune, had a twin) asked with a smirk.

Jude furrowed his brows. "Should we?"

Fred and George proceeded to perform dramatic reenactments about this 'Harry Potter' boy's escapades, clambering all over the compartment like Neanderthals. When something the two of them said made Jude's stomach clench.

"Wait... what'd you say about last year? A... what fang?" Jude asked as he tried to remember why that sounded so eerily familiar. 

"Oh, so now you're interested?" They asked in unison with matching cheeky grins. "A basilisk fang."

"And... what about the diary?" Jude reiterated, frustrated. 

"Harry rammed it into the diary." Fred said dramatically, grasping air and striking it down into his brother's chest. 

Jude opened his mouth and looked to Max to see if he remembered when Jude had that vision last year, and when Max eventually looked back at him, he could see the apparent expression of shock on his face, answering his inquiry. 

Just before Jude could say anything at all, the train slowed to a stop, and the lights flickered off.

One of the girls sitting next to Max, Jude believed her name to be Emma, muttered a spell and the compartment became partially illuminated from the light of her wand. She gazed out the window and pressed a hand to it and gasped when the outline of her hand appeared on the glass. 

"We're... definitely not there yet." Lee Jordan said quietly and quite obviously. 

Jude noticed his breath was visible before his face and the rest of his companions', but it was then he turned to his left and froze in terror as a horrible screech reached his ears and his hands instantly flew upward to prevent as much as the atrocious sound from entering his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut, painfully aware of his brother's hands on his arms and very faint shouts over the screams, and eventually they stopped, and Jude was left with the most awful feeling in his gut. 

A man knocked on their compartment door before sliding it open and asking if they were alright. Before anyone could answer, Jude blurted, "Remus Lupin." Because he knew his name and he knew his face from one of his dreams but he didn't know what it meant—why in the world did he know this random man's name?!—and it was absolutely stressing him out. 

Remus Lupin blinked multiple times, likely calculating a response, Jude also knew he was calculative, before handing him a bar of chocolate and sliding the door shut whilst walking to the next compartment. 

"So... Max wasn't lying." One of the twins said. Jude snapped his head in his direction. 

"What?" Jude asked with grit teeth. 

"Uh oh. We were supposed to keep that a secret, right Max?" 

Jude saw red. 

When the train halted to a stop, their mother was waiting for them when they got off the train to escort them to the entrance hall where they would stand with the first years, and not ride the boats across the murky black lake that intrigued Jude. 

"I heard there was a little... incident, Jude." Their mother said quietly, she guided them with hands on their backs. 

"Yeah. I'm fine, though. But one of my visions can't true—"

Their mother stopped her tracks briskly and whipped her head in her youngest son's direction. "Shhhhh!" She hushed. "We'll talk about it later... for now, this is between you, me, and your brother. That's it."

"You, me, Max and everyone else Max told on the train." Jude shrugged as his mother turned to glare at Max harshly. 

"WHAT?!"

"Moooom, it was just two people, I swear, it's a really good opener when trying to make conversation and new friends—"

"Max, I thought we had a talk about utilizing common sense—" 

•••

Jude couldn't place why he felt so nervous. Yes, it was common knowledge that he didn't do very well in front of large crowds, but he wasn't going to be saying anything or presenting a project, so this was almost completely unrelated to all the other times he would have to stand before countless peers. There was still this peculiar feeling in his gut, not as though as soon as he walked through the enormous wooden doors something awful would greet him, but a gradual type of thing, like, things would gradually turn for the worse, but exclusively for Jude. 

When Jude sat on the wooden stool—and before his brother, to his shock—his mother sent him a quick, encouraging smile as the patchy old hat was lowered onto his head. 

A voice erupted in his brain, "Hello, Jude!" 

Jude jumped, hands dropping to the underside of the stool to steady himself. "Jesus Christ!" He uttered far too loudly to be deemed appropriate. 

His reaction warranted some laughter from his peers, but whatever delight he held was short lived, as he glanced to his right and noticed the boy from the train, Draco, observing him creepily. 

"Oh, Jude, if only I were human, or you were another enchanted accessory, I feel we would be great friends... but where to place you, I'm not too sure of..." 

"If I'm being totally honest, I don't care where I'm put. Plus, I already know where I'm going." Jude pointed out, assuming the hat would know of his funny little ability. 

The hat chortled in his ears, "You do realize the future is always subject to change?"

Jude frowned, "Yes, but I didn't do anything to obstruct the course of events I saw in my dream... or at least... I'm pretty sure I didn't..."

"You're right about that, but can you guess who did obstruct the course of events you saw?" 

"Max." Jude answered easily, with an eye roll. 

"As soon as you told him he was going to be sorted in Slytherin, he did anything he could to prevent it from happening. Now, I have reason to believe he'll be in Gryffindor. He does not strike me as much as a Slytherin as he does Gryffindor... oh, I'm getting off track! Excuse me! You're just so amusing to talk to! Hmm... RAVENCLAW!" 

The table adorned with silver and blue applauded the loudest out of the four and welcomed Jude to their table with grins and encouraging greetings. 

He took his seat next to a girl with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes hidden behind the silliest pair of pink glasses, whom, upon sitting next to her, asked if he knew he had an infestation of wrackspurts in his head. 

"Err... I don't think so... I'm sorry, what is a wrackspurt?" Jude asked, scratching his neck. 

She giggled. "Oh, Jude, wrackspurts are invisible! They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy... I can see the unfocused look in your eyes, so I put these on and you're infested!" 

Jude blinked. "Thanks for letting me know...?" 

"I'm Luna Lovegood. It's very nice to meet you." Luna smiled, "oh, I have this for you." She pulled a long green string with a cork as a pendant. 

"Uh, uhm, thank you?" Jude tried to sound grateful as he took the necklace in his hands and inspected it in confusion.

"That's to keep the nargles away." She motioned to the necklace in seriousness. 

"I thought we were talking about wrackspurts?" 

"We were, and now we're talking about nargles." 

Jude was utterly confused until the headmaster began informing them of the various rules the students were required to follow; don't go into the forbidden forest, stay out of some hallway?, blah blah blah—

Jude's interest was piqued when Professor Dumbledore began to explain how the dementors were present as a security measure to ensure all the students were safe as some crazed murderer called Sirius Black was on the loose and no one had the slightest idea of his whereabouts. 

His brother shot him a grin from across from Gryffindor table that was placed right next to Ravenclaw table, the twins from the train also caught his eye and waved dramatically. 

Soon a student in Ravenclaw called a 'Prefect' escorted Jude and all of the first years to Ravenclaw tower, whereupon arrival he explained that you could only get in by answering the riddle presented, the first one being: The more you take, the more you leave behind. 

The first years were calculating an assortment of responses, Jude pondered for a moment before answering: "Footsteps." 

The prefect beamed and motioned for the first years to enter the common room. Jude was the last to clamber through, but when he saw the interior he was blown away by the assortment of blues and silvers, the blue velvety couch and silver carpeting, the highly realistic model of the night sky similar to the one in the Great Hall was enticing. Jude liked Ravenclaw tower.

The boys in Jude's dorm were already so well acquainted that he felt entirely out of place. They were nice, but he couldn't exactly relate to their memories of the past or their retellings of what they did together in the summer.

"Jude! What's Ilvermorny like?"

Jude felt a headache bud in his forehead.


	4. Chapter 4

Jude still hated the idea of school even if he was learning actual, useful information, and not something insignificant like arithmetic sequence. He woke up from an awful night terror and drenched in sweat, and consequently woke up a few of the boys in the dorm with him. Luckily, they weren't too pissed off about being woken up in the midst of the night, and some actually offered to listen/analyze if Jude wanted to talk about what happened. 

Truthfully, Jude didn't know if even Tati and Paris could figure out what the image of a black dog slashing a painting of a rather large woman was meant to symbolize or represent, and they both were exceedingly bright. 

Jude declines their offers and urged them to go back to sleep, and he decided to stay awake and listen to music from his CD player which he'd smuggled into his bag with a charm rendering it undetectable. Jude was quite good at charms. 

The next morning he wasn't as fatigued as he thought he would be, and groaned, dressing himself with haste then proceeding to brush his hair and teeth and wash his face and making his way into the common room to sit and wake up before going to eat breakfast in the Great Hall. 

On one of the various couches strewn around the tower was Luna Lovegood, head buried in some strange looking novel, but she must have noticed or heard Jude approaching, because seconds later she lowered her book away from her face and rested it on her lap then craned her neck up to give Jude a rosy-cheeked, yet dreamy smile. 

"Hello, Jude!" She said enthusiastically. Jude tried to give her a smile to match her enthusiasm and energy, he realized seconds later that that was an impossible task, because how in God's name could someone be so hyper at 7:00 in the morning? 

"Hi, Luna. Do you want to eat breakfast with my brother and I?" He asked, she nodded. 

"Oh, yes, that would be lovely. No one in Ravenclaw likes me very much." She said with an air of melancholy. 

Jude envisioned a very awful mental image of Luna being bullied by classmates from every house and his blood began to boil. "What do you mean?"

She took note of his anger, still looking as thoughtful and soft as ever, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Jude, I'm alright."

Jude frowned. "Why does everyone have to hate something that defies what is deemed normal; even if it's just a little different?" 

Luna shrugged in diffidence. "Maybe they're scared of it, I don't really know, but it doesn't matter much to me."

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to, Strawberry Fields. Jude thought to himself before standing up and motioning to the portrait hole. "Let's go now." 

She leapt up and skipped out of the common room, Jude trailing behind confoundedly in a walk and upon entering the Great Hall, received their timetables from Professor Flitwick, then made their way to Gryffindor table and sat with Max. 

Max grinned suggestively, nudging his leg with his foot, "Hey, Jude, who's this?" 

Jude kicked his shin aggressively in return as Max yelped, "This is my friend Luna. Luna this is my ridiculously stupid brother Max."

"Nice to meet you, Max." She said softly as he reiterated in irritation, leaning down to rub his shin. 

Jude stared down at the white china before him and wondered what to take from the platters upon platters lined up in the middle of the table, and opted to take french toast and a few Italian sausages before dispersing them onto his plate and promptly digging in. 

"What classes do you have?" Max inquired, taking a sip of orange juice. 

"Divination, defense against the dark arts, care of magical creatures, potions, charms, and divination." He read, comparing his with Luna. At least they had their last few classes together. 

Max wrinkled his nose. "I heard from Fred and George that the Slytherins are awful. Be careful around them, Jude, apparently Voldemort was a Slytherin." 

Jude rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to let one bad apple ruin the whole patch. Plus, you could have very well been placed in Slytherin."

"Well, I'm not, am I?" 

Jude groaned at his immaturity and gulped down a piece of toast and water before deciding to head to class. 

He first had divination, and he'd asked Luna to accompany him to—wherever the classroom was, because he was incredibly lost. Oddly, there were with a bunch of Gryffindor students, he went to pull out his schedule to check to see if they were at the right class, but Luna quietly informed him, "Not many Ravenclaws take divination... they can't stand Professor Trelawney, and I sort of agree, she's bonkers." 

Jude thought that was ironic coming from Luna but opted to keep that to himself, as a silver ladder descended from somewhere up on the ceiling, and Jude decided to climb up first, Luna following, and then the rest of the Gryffindor students.

When he lifted himself into the classroom he cringed. Tapestries and carpets all floral patterned and shades of varying reds and oranges smacked him in the face and—there weren't even any desks, just very suspicious bean bag-like chair things sat around round tables.

"Great, I have to deal with a fucking lunatic first thing in the morning." Jude grumbled, not thinking anyone was listening, as a red-headed boy from Gryffindor laughed at his words from behind. Jude recognized him instantly. 

"Are your brothers Fred and George?" Jude asked in apprehension. 

"Yeah..." The boy replied before his facial expression twisted into one of realization. "Ohhhh... you're Max's brother. I'm Ron." 

"Jude." He said back with a smile. 

The black haired boy next to Ron introduced himself as well, "I'm Harry Potter."

The girl grinned and said, "Hermione Granger." 

It was then Jude noticed with a frown that Luna had disappeared he swallowed nervously and turned back to the trio, "Well, it happens that I don't know anyone in this class... could I sit with you guys?"

Hermione smiled and nodded vigorously. "Of course." 

"Where is she?" Ron asked.

"Welcome," a voice appeared from seemingly nowhere. Jude jumped nearly 6 feet in the air and pressed a hand to his erratically pounding heart as Harry snickered at him. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last." 

A woman stepped forth from whatever cranny she was concealing herself in, and Jude was able to really look at her eyes, due to the glasses she had chosen to wear, which closely resembled two magnifying glasses instead of typical lenses. 

"Sit, my children, sit," she said in a tone Jude found unsettling, but followed his new friends apprehensively, and sat around a circular table. 

"Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, taking a seat in front of a roaring fire place Jude had failed to notice upon first entering. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye." 

"This is not happening." Jude murmured lowly, resisting the urge to reach up and grab of fistful of hair and just yank. 

"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field..." 

Ron and Harry both exchanged grins before directing them at a distressed Hermione.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and suddenly disappearing a, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy," she turned to a fidgety, timid boy, "Is your grandmother well?" 

"I think so." He answered with a quiver. 

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," 

Jude eyes bulged at her insensitive declaration. 

"We will be covering the basic methods of divination this year. The first term will be devoted to readings of the tea leaves, next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," she turned to an Indian girl, "beware a red-haired man."

She glanced at Ron, startled, and scooted as far away as humanly possible from his direction. 

"In the second term, we shall progress to the crystal ball—if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, class will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever." 

Jude was unable to take this woman seriously, God, look at what she was wearing! How was this woman qualified to teach anything? 

"I wonder, my dear," she now spoke to a curly brown haired girl, "if you could pass me the largest silver tea pot." 

As the girl obliged, Professor Trelawney informed her that "the thing you are dreading" will happen on Friday, the 16th of October. 

She informed them that they would be splitting into pairs before badgering the same boy whose grandma she basically hinted was dying. 

Harry and Jude paired up, as did Hermione and Ron. 

"Now that she has finally stopped talking, please don't ask me what Ilvermorny was like, believe it or not, it isn't a good conversation starter." Jude plead, clasping his hands in front of him dramatically. 

"What's Ilvermorny?" Harry inquired, Jude groaned.

"It's like Hogwarts but in America, now tell me what my tea leaves mean, Harry." Jude said exasperatedly.

Harry laughed, and examined the misshapen dampened specks. 

"Well," he began while peering into Unfogging the Future, "there's something that sort of looks like a club, which means... there's going to be an attack, and a skull, which means that there's danger in your path."

"Hmm, sounds like nonsense, as expected from none other than," he throws his hand at her back. 

"I have no freaking clue what this looks like. You know what it looks like? Tea leaves at the bottom of a tea cup. Which is what it is, and what we should leave it as." Jude ranted, as he turned it in all directions, "It kind of looks like a fat animal, like a, uhh what are those things that curl into little balls and have hard shells? Like an..."

"Armadillo?" Harry supplied, amused. 

"Yes! An armadillo, I don't know if that means anything in this dumb book, though." Jude spoke, whilst flipping through pages. 

"Let me see that," Professor Trelawney snatched the tea cup from Jude's grasp, which he made a face at.

"The falcon... my dear, you have a deadly enemy." 

"But everyone knows that," Hermione said, Jude is astonished at the attitude in her voice, she struck him as an especially polite student to annoying, rude teachers. "Well, they do, everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."

Jude almost asked who You-Know-Who was before stopping himself, there was a reason he didn't know who that was, and his mother specifically kept him in the dark about it... and, what was the correlation between Harry and You-Know-Who? 

"The club, an attack. And... the skull, danger in your path." She turned the cup once more, before screaming loudly and not to mention obnoxiously, and in Jude's ears. 

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed, clamping his hands over his ears, although his classmates were too transfixed on the mess of a woman, now sat in an arm chair, muttering to herself. 

"What is it, Professor?" A boy asked, desperately trying to get a look at whatever she saw was in Harry's cup, that Jude didn't. 

"My dear," she said, ominously staring at Harry, "you have the Grim."

Harry looked at Hermione, Ron, then Jude in bewilderment, all of whom gave him an unhelpful shrug.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" She cried, "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen—the word omen—of death!"

Jude examined the look of utter terror on Harry's face and frowned. Why was it that everyone found the teacher so convincing? Jude thought she sounded insane, annoying even. 

"I don't think it looks like a Grim." said Hermione, and Jude was relieved to see that she wasn't feeding into this nonsense as the rest of their classmates were. 

Professor Trelawney eyed her in disapproval, "You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

"It looks like a Grim if you do this," a boy said whilst tilting his head, "but it looks more like a donkey from here." 

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" Harry exclaimed. Jude observed the countless averted gazes. 

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today... yes, please pack away your things..."

As the four friends descended down the ladder, Jude checked his schedule and nearly groaned when he saw potions. 

He turned to Harry, "Don't worry about that stupid tea crap. It's all bologna. She probably does that every year to get a reaction out of kids."

Harry gave Jude a weak, though appreciative smile, "Thanks, Jude."

"No problem, bye." Jude waved, before departing down the opposite hallway. 

If Jude had known potions was going to be this bad, he would have skipped. Snape seemed to have it out for him, despite not even knowing Jude at all! Jude followed all his instructions down to a T, but he still received scorn and contempt from the greasy potions Professor. 

"Mr. Ring, do try to pay attention to my class, I'm sure you must have much more interesting and better things to do, but I must, unfortunately, engrain the wonderful workings of potion making into your tiny, little, brain." Jude mocked in a horrible British accent, although he did make sure to over-enunciate every word. 

"What was that, Mr. Ring?"

"I said, 'Wow! monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant? How interesting.'"

He rolled his eyes and began to sneer at other poor students in the classroom.

To Jude's dismay, Draco Malfoy was sat in front of him, and every so often, he'd turn around and give Jude a snide remark. 

"Your impression was awful, Ring." He sniggered.

Jude slammed his head onto the desk and nearly cried. How the fuck was he supposed to get through a whole year of Malfoy, Snape, and the awful smell of erroneously brewed potions?!

"Are you trying to knock some sense into yourself?" 

"Malfoy, I will knock you into next week after class. I suggest shutting the fuck up." Jude threatened. Malfoy's dark brows shot upward and a vexatious smirk crossed his lips, before he turned back around and Jude uncurled his fist.

After the lesson, Malfoy had the nerve to ask Jude if he wanted to sit with him and his idiot friends at lunch. Jude scowled and declined the offer politely, no matter how badly he wanted to tell him off, Jude didn't need to make enemies his first day at Hogwarts. He really didn't need that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the later chapter !! Thanks for bearing with me 💕💕

Professor Lupin's first Defense Against the Dark Arts class caused Jude to nearly go into cardiac arrest, he thankfully hadn't been put up against the boggart, though the lesson also indefinitely piqued Jude's interest in the man, leaving even more unanswered questions. Jude was even was even more curious than he'd been before.

"Sir, may I speak with you?" Jude questioned politely as the rest of his classmates darted out of the classroom, he stood behind with his leather satchel on his desk. 

Professor Lupin licked his lips, perhaps in thought, before nodding, "Of course. What did you want to discuss?"

Jude fought to explain what exactly and how he was going to say this next, and then decided to be as blatant and blunt as possible, "Well, I'm not really supposed to tell other people this but I just have a good feeling... see, Professor Lupin, I'm a Seer. And the reason I knew your name on the train was because I've heard it in a vision, and I see you in my visions frequently, and I want to know why, because I have a very strong feeling you know ." 

Lupin blinked once, then twice, "I-I'm not sure, Mr. Ring, are you quite sure that you are a Seer, and that your mother didn't tell you my name?"

Jude's eyebrows darted upward, "So, you know my mother? Interesting. And, yes, I'm sure. I know of your—" Jude pondered if it was such a good idea to reveal this next bit of information but shrugged and decided not to and cleared his throat, "Who are you, sir?" 

Lupin looked nervous and at a loss for words. "I truly think you should ask your mother about this, Jude."

Jude shrugged, eyeing the suspiciously tense man, "Hmm. Alright. Thanks anyway, Professor Lupin." 

Jude made a bee-line for his mother's classroom, where a hoard of 5th year Hufflepuffs were shuffling out of the classroom, and Jude clumsily collided with a much taller boy with dark hair and blue grey eyes. 

"Sorry." He spoke, shooting Jude an apologetic smile. 

"Don't worry, dude, that was all me." Jude said, going to reopen the door, whereupon he was stopped by the boy once more. 

"Sorry, I couldn't help but notice your accent— you're American?" He asked excitedly. 

"Uh, yeah, Jude Ring." Jude introduced distractedly, peering into the classroom every couple of seconds to see if his mother had left.

"Oh! You're Professor Ring's son, then? She's great. I'm Cedric Diggory." He extended a hand to Jude, which Jude shook with haste. 

"Look, it was very nice to meet you, maybe we could talk some other time? I really need to talk to my mom. See you!" He announced briskly and without enough time for Cedric to reply, and practically sprinted into the classroom. 

"Mom!" He hollered, rushing to her desk where she was digging through untidy drawers. 

"Jude, please use your inside voice." She winced, plucking up her purse and wand. 

"Sorry mom!" Jude exclaimed at the same volume. She sighed fondly and gave him a pointed stare. 

"Go eat lunch. You aren't skipping." She said sternly.

"Mooom, you sound like Professor McGongall!" He whined, incessantly rocking her shoulder.

"Jude, enough, go to lunch and eat. Be social. I need to catch up on my lesson planning, and I will not have you distracting me. Understand?"

"Yes, but, there was a point to my visit." She gave him a look as to say, get on with it, then! "I was wondering... how you knew Professor Lupin?" 

His mother dropped her quill on the parchment she'd been writing on and gazed blankly at it, almost as though forcibly suppressing a reaction to his inquiry.

"How did this come about?" She asked quietly.

"Well, I've seen him before out of the physical world," He said this in Professor Trelawney's voice, warranting a smack on the back of his head from his mother, "and... I have some things I should probably tell you... I know more than you probably think I do."

His mother sighed deeply, resting her head in her hands. "I will discuss this with you later. Please go to lunch."

"But mom-"

"Jude."

He bounded out of that classroom like his ass was on fire.

Which, unfortunately, led to a run in with Draco Malfoy, who gave him that same infuriatingly confusing smile that he'd always give Jude, and with a sling. It was almost like he knew something Jude didn't. And Jude could not physically live with that.

"Missing lunch, Jude? I can't say I expected that from you." He mused from across the courtyard. Jude wasn't able to run away fast enough from him, meaning he would have to engage in conversation with this halfwit, he realized as Malfoy advanced on him. 

"What's with the sling?" He questioned disinterestedly. 

"This disgusting thing from that utter oaf's class attacked me--"

"Oh, no," said Jude apathetically.

"--and I had to stay in the hospital wing for a few nights. Of course, my father was furious--"

"Who exactly is your father, again?" Jude asked, once again without a trace of interest or sympathy, though he was confused as to why he thought his father was relevant in this conversation.

"The Governor of Hogwarts." He replied smugly. 

"I don't exactly know what the relevance of that position is, but, alright. Very sorry about your cut, I hope it doesn't get infected and amputated." Jude said quickly after noticing how close he was to the great hall and taking off in that direction. 

"What does amputated mean?!" 

"Chopped off!" Jude laughed upon hearing Malfoy's distress at his response.

Jude made his way to Gryffindor table and took a seat next to a surprised Harry, with the most smug grin. 

"Are you even allowed to be sitting here?" Harry teased. "What's with the look?"

Jude shrugged with a grin. 

"Just proud of myself for telling that Draco Malfoy kid that when his cut gets infected they'll have to slice it off. God, you should have saw the look on his face when he asked what amputate meant. He started crying." 

The trio all roared with laughter, especially Ron, who thought this was particularly hilarious and called his frighteningly tall twin brothers to recount the story to them.

"A lot of them come from wizard families, and aren't aware of muggle terms like that." Hermione stated, still half laughing.

"Yeah... I'd never realized that Malfoy was a moron. They don't preform amputations in the magic world? I'm sure my friends from Ilvermorny know what that is..." Jude muttered to himself. 

"Ask them. If they're pureblood, or raised wizard, I doubt they will." Hermione spoke. 

"They have houses at Ilvermorny too, right? What are they?" Harry asked curiously while looking at him.

"Um, well, there's Thunderbird, Wampus, Horned Serpent, and Pukwudgie. Thunderbird's, like, the adventurous house. It represents the soul of a witch or wizard. And Pukwudgie represents the heart, Horned Serpent represents the mind, anddd Wampus! Represents the body." He explained, "my friends and my bo-- we were in Thunderbird." 

"What house do you think I'd be in?" Harry asked him.

Jude stared at him, and proceeded to feign the shallow act of sizing one up, and said, "Wampus." 

"Brilliant. I mean... I don't know enough about it, but, thanks."

"Anytime, Mr. Potter." Jude replied in an awful posh accent, causing him to burst out laughing.

•

Jude didn't realize how seriously the houses took Quidditch. Sure, it was somewhat of a big deal at Ilvermorny, but not like this. The Gryffindors were practicing almost every night, at all hours of the night, and it was clear to Jude that Harry and the other Gryffindors on the team were very visibly beginning to feel the pressure.

"Cheer up, Harry, we go to Hogsmeade." Jude told him at breakfast on Halloween.

Harry gave him a glum look. "I can't, remember? I couldn't get my permission slip signed."

"Ohhhhhh." Jude winced, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, dude."

Harry chuckled. 

"What?"

"Nothing, dude." Harry mocked.

"Wow, Harry, and here I was, about to offer to stay back with you."

Harry's expression turned hopeful, "You don't have to do that, Jude. I'll find something to do--"

"Oh, no no no no no, Mr. Potter. I will be staying back with you. And we will have ourselves a merry time!" 

"The posh accent returns!"

"My father will hear about this!" He continued, unaware of the presence of a very sour, whiny Slytherin behind him, glowering at his back.

"Got something to say, Jude?" 

"Yes. I said, my father will hear about this. But I can't remember where I've heard it from, can you?" Jude asked him smartly.

"You'd better watch it, Jude. It seems you're being turned into a blood traitor like Weasley over here."

"Bugger off, Malfoy!" Ron spat.

"You're sure you don't want to associate with the right bunch?"

Jude responded by turning back around in his seat, causing Malfoy to scoff, and stalk off in another direction. 

"You handle Malfoy so well, almost like... it's an art!" Ron proclaimed, awestruck. 

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Shut it, Ronald. We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes, Harry, you too, Jude."

"Don't worry about me, I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time." He gave them a weak smile, prompting Jude to give his back another comforting pat. 

Jude and Harry had decided to walk with the both of them to the entrance hall, and there stood miserable old Filch with the most care eye, resulting in Jude rolling his dramatically. What a miserable old man, Jude thought to himself, glaring at Filch and his obnoxious list.

"Staying here, Potter?" Malfoy shouted at them, "Aw, is Jude going to protect you from the passing Dementors?"

Jude gave him a very American gesture involving his middle finger, prompting a snort from Harry at the dumbfounded expression on Malfoy's face. 

Harry turned to Jude, "Well, what should we do now?" 

"I think we should pester Professor Lupin. I still have some things to ask him."

A few minutes later, Jude was popping his head into Professor Lupin's ajar office, "Oh, Professor Luuuuuuupinnnnnn," he called in a sing-song voice, which Harry playfully grimaced at.

"Jude? Harry? What are you doing? Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Hogsmeade." said Harry miserably.

"Ah," He said, thinking for a moment. "Would you like to see the Grindylow that just came in for our next lesson?"

"A what?" Harry asked.

"It's a water demon." Jude replied with ease, sitting himself down in a chair in front of Lupin's desk.

"Yes, that's right... we shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers?Strong, but very brittle." 

The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weed in a corner. 

"Cup of tea?" he offered to the boys, who both accepted with an air of awkwardness.

"Sit down," he said to Harry, opening a particularly dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid–but I dare say you've had enough of tea leaves?"

Jude raised his eyebrows, "How did you know about that?" Harry asked.

"Professor McGonagall told me," Lupin replied simply, passing the boys chippedmugsoftea. "You're not... worried, are you?"

"No..." said Harry.

It suddenly hit Jude--why the grim shaped tea leaves in Harry's cup had looked so familiar--and he nearly slapped himself in the face once he realized that it was the dog he's been seeing in his visions for weeks. The same black dog that Tati and Paris were still trying to decipher. How moronic of him to have missed that!

"Jude? Is something the matter?" Professor Lupin asked him, upon observing the concerning expression on his face, that Harry, too, took notice of.

"Um... maybe. I just realized something I would like to share privately with you later, Professor, if you don't mind." Jude replied casually, but really, he was flipping the fuck out. Maybe he should talk to Harry about the dog...

"Er-- yes, that's alright with me-- is there anything... bothering you, Harry?" 

At this point, Jude thought it wise to retrieve a piece of parchment from his bag and scribble down details of the very vivid visions he's ever had about that damn dog to discuss with Professor Lupin.

"What's with boggarts?" Jude asked, just as Professor Snape strode into the office with a snarl on his lip and a stick up his ass. Jude bit back a sarcastic remark about his hair.

"Ah, Severus," he said with a smile. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it there on the desk for me?"

Snape set the strange goblet down as requested, his eyes flickered between Harry, Jude, and Lupin. 

 

"I was just showing them my Grindylow," Lupin said, motioning to the tank.

"Fascinating," saidSnape, without sparing a glance atit. "You should drink that directly, Lupin." 

"Yes, yes, I will." 

"I made an entire caldronful," the particularly greasy man continued. "If you need more." 

"I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus." 

"Not at all," said Snape, with an eerie look in his eyes, he backed out of the room, Jude watching with a sour expression the entire duration of his exit. 

Harry peered at the goblet with a curious gaze.

"What's that for?" Jude asked loudly, Lupin smiled.

"ProfessorSnapehasverykindlyconcoctedapotionforme," hesaid. "I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one in particular is very complex." He said almost begrudgingly, picking up the goblet and sniffing it. 

"Pity sugar makes it useless." he remarked, before taking a big sip and shuddering.

Jude lent forward and examined the remaining contents, which looked awfully familiar to him. He'd probably read about it at Ilvermorny, or Paris told him or... Josh... or he saw it in one of Hermione's books... nonetheless! The frightening potion was not a new sight for Jude.

"Why do you--?" Harrybegan.

"I've been feeling a bit off-color," he answered, "this potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it." 

Professor Lupin an additional sip and Jude, ever so confused, glanced at Harry's fists. 

"Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts." he stated. 

"Really?" said Lupin, in a tone as if to say, tell me something I don't already know, as he took another sip of the potion. 

"Some people reckon–" Jude shot him a look, asking with his leaping eyebrows, what the fuck are you saying?, "some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

Lupin had downed the goblet with a grimace.

"Disgusting," hesaid. "Well, boys, Id better get back to work. I'll see you both at the feast later."

"Thanks, Professor." Harry said, in unison with Jude saying, "Now, about that chat..."

 

•


	6. Chapter 6

"Professor Lupin, what do you know about a black dog animagus?" Jude cut straight to the chase, not particularly in the mood to carefully choose his words, or to sugar coat anything. 

Professor Lupin's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, which Jude did happen to catch sight of, before the older man composed his expression and selected to ask, "Perhaps, but, why do you ask, Jude?"

Jude shrugged, "I'm just going off what I've observed. Your facial expressions tell me a thousand words, Professor."

"Jude... you... said you see," he lowered his voice to a skeptical whisper, "visions?" 

Jude nodded. "I do. And a familiar occurrence I'm seeing is a particularly large dog. The same that appeared in Harry's teacup in Divination. I often see a black dog in the treeline of the Forbidden Forest, sir, and I believe, judging from my visions of your past and how it ties in the future, and the present... well, I seem to know everything and nothing. I care for your explanation."

Professor Lupin swallowed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "I wasn't aware this was how foresight functioned." 

"Well, I am in no way an expert, but from what I have read, it takes form in verbal and visual prophecies. I could never get anything very specific, like how mine take form but-- it looks like we're straying from the topic at hand, Professor." said Jude politely.

"You're very well-versed for a 13 year old, Jude. You're just like your mother." He said, as though recalling a memory. "But, you do know who Sirius Black is, don't you?"

Jude crinkled his nose in thought, "Vaguely. He's been in the newspaper almost everyday, though I don't care for the papers... he's an Askaban escapee, right? He has something to do with Harry, but it is obvious Harry doesn't know that."

Lupin nodded. 

"He...  was chosen to be the Potters' Secret Keeper the night You-Know-Who... killed them." He took a deep breath, "And their other close friend, Peter Pettigrew, confronted him, and Black killed him, too... blew him up... leaving behind only his--"

"--finger." Jude finished, confusion not cleared up in the slightest. 

"When he went to Hogwarts, he underwent the Animagus transformation illegally," he told Jude, voice low, "and his form was a black dog."

Jude furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He was surely writing a letter to Paris and Tati the moment he got out of the office... perhaps he would collaborate with Hermione, or someone from Ravenclaw he could trust... "Why do I keep seeing him then, if that's who I've been seeing? What does he have to do with me?"

Lupin cringed, "Perhaps this is a discussion for you and your mother--"

"And don't you think Harry deserves an explanation? Rather than me?"

Lupin sighed helplessly, "You already knew larger fragments of the story, fortunately you came to me for clarification, you'd have probably asked the wrong person." 

"Then I'll be clarifying this all for Harry. He doesn't deserve to be kept in the dark like this. It isn't right." Jude stated firmly, standing from his seat, and going to meet his friend waiting just outside the door.

 

"Jude, wait-- there's a reason Professor Dumbledore doesn't want him knowing all of this quite yet-- remember the chamber of secrets, and the basilik he encountered in his second year? Or his meeting with the Dark Lord, in his first year? The poor boy doesn't need any more stress on his shoulders--"

"The truth sets you free. The truth will, eventually, put him at ease, sir. Harry deserves to know, regardless if he's a child and regardless of everything he's been through, which should actually be the very reason he knows! Professor, I will seriously consider telling Harry. This is all very crooked." Jude spat in anger. 

"Jude, I understand completely where you're coming from, I really do, but please at least come to be before you tell Harry, if you tell Harry." 

Jude sighed, but nodded, promising to tell Lupin if he did go through with what he claimed he would, and exited his office with a very bewildered Harry on the other side of the door.

"Why couldn't I hear anything?" He inquired. 

"I cast the muffling charm on the door." Jude replied with a sneaky grin. "I'll tell you what happened soon, I just need to make sure that it's true first. Harry, have you ever met my mom?"

"No...?"

"She teaches here. Muggle studies." Jude told him, grabbing his wrist and yanking him in another direction.

"But isn't she...?"

"American? No. She was born here, went to school here... she was in the same class as your parents, actually. I need to talk to her for a minute--actually, Harry, I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'm being quite rude, aren't I?" Jude realized glumly, dropping Harry's wrist.

"No, no, you're fine," Harry replied with a dismissive wave. "At least you're with me. I'd much rather be dragged along then left alone." 

"Ughhhh," Jude groaned, "why are you so nice? We need to work on your meanness. Your sass. Come on, Harry."

"What are you talking about--?"

•

Jude ate too much that night at the feast, if you knew what he meant. And decided upon decency, rather than convenience, and made his way to another bathroom in a corridor next to the Gryffindor common room to spare the fragile and innocent nostrils of the classmates in his dormitory, but noticed a fairly large crowd of Gryffindors piling up in front of the Fat Lady portrait.

"Max?" He exclaimed, spotting said moron gritting his teeth in impatience at the swarm of studies blocking the entryway. 

"FUCKING MOVE!" He yelled at the crowd, physically pushing kids out of the way, before reemerging with eyes as wide as saucers and marched to Jude.

"Jude--did you see this?" Max grabbed him my the shoulders as he said this.

"Max, see what? What are you talking about--?"

The crowd departed as Professor Dumbledore strode forward, and Jude's mouth fell open, as he saw what had happened play through his head like a tape on rewind. 

The canvas of the Fat Lady's portrait held slashes, as strips of it lay on the ground. The subject of the painting had seemingly disappeared. 

"We need to find her," Dumbledore spoke. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady." 

"You'll be lucky!" Peeves the Poltergeist exclaimed, floating in over the crowd.

"What do you mean, Peeves?"

Peeves clearly didn't fuck with Dumbledore, "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something  dreadful. Poor thing." 

"Did she say who did it?"

"Oh, yes, Professorhead," he said, "He's got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves did a flip in the air, and sent Dumbledore a cheeky smirk, "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black." 

And with that, Jude's eyes did a somersault to the back of his head and he was out, capturing only the attention of his brother, who caught him with ease, as a vision racked his mind.

It's raining cats and dogs, and Jude is in the air, above the Quidditch pitch, but there were other students racing around, and the entire school's roars were hardly audible over the sound of the rain smacking onto the players, and every surface it could cling onto. And, not to mention, the claps of thunder.

His vision zeroed in on Harry, who was totally unaware of the flurry of Dementors advancing on him, hearing screaming, tearful pleads, and maniac laughter as Harry fell out of the sky, off of his broom. 

He shot up in a bed he didn't recognize, drenched in sweat. He laid against the propped pillows with wide eyes and shaking hands, as he scrambled for the light on the beside table, taking notice of Max, who was passed out on a chair beside him. 

Madam Pomfrey approached him with a glass of water and sympathetic smile. 

"You poor dear." She cooed, resting a wet, cool towel on his forehead. "The next time you have one of your visions, please come to the Hospital Wing... dear, how often do you get these visions? Your body is exhausted, you'll need to stay here for a couple of nights, get your strength back."

 

"I... I get them a couple of nights every week, but how did you..." Jude blinked in utter bemusement. "What happened with the portrait--?"

"Your classmates are in the Great Hall at the moment, and Professor Dumbledore is securing Hogwarts."

"Because of Sirius Black." He guessed, watching Madam Pomfrey grimace. 

"Yes, essentially. Your mother is one of the teachers watching the students, but she'll be here soon to check in on you, she's been very worried." 

Jude turned to Max and gently shook him awake, he jumped, startled, but relaxed upon seeing Jude. 

"What'd you see?" He asked anxiously.

"Well... I did see who wins the upcoming quidittich match this weekend." Jude said carefully.

"WAIT, really?! Who?!?" Max exclaimed. 

"Hufflepuff... and it's sort of because of Harry." Jude explained, watching Max's expression fall. 

"Shit... Emma's gonna be so upset... especially Wood..."

"Emma?" Jude repeated cheekily.

Max groaned, "Shut up, Jude."

The Hospital Wing's doors opened slowly and quietly, which was a clear indicator for both of the Ring boys that their mother had entered, and seconds later small footsteps skidded against the floor and then arms tightly wound themselves around Jude.

"MY BABY!" She wailed, causing Jude to groan in pain. 

"Too--tight--"

"Suck it up!" She ordered, pressing his face into her chest for a minute more, then relinquished her hold, resulting in Jude sucking in deep breaths of air.

"You're such a drama queen... what was it this time?"

Jude stared at her blankly. "What do you mean?"

"What did you see?"

Ah, this would lead into a series of questions that Jude hadn't even lined up yet. Questions about how Professor Lupin even knew Sirius Black was an illegal animagus, and what was his connection to Lupin and this murderous criminal.

"Well, for starters, I often see a particularly large black dog. Not a wolf, a dog. I momentarily believed this dog I was seeing was an omen of something bad to occur, but, it turns out it's Sirius Black's illegal animagi form, which leads me to wonder why I keep seeing Sirius Black, when really, his connection is to Harry," Jude gave his mother a pointed look, "do you know why?"

His mother was silent for a while, the only thing that Jude could tell for certain was that he struck a nerve, and that Sirius Black was someone to his mother, and therefore, him. And that thought was equally as boggling as it was sort of... scary. Max looked like he wanted to ask questions, but didn't know where to start, or even if he should start. 

"Jude... another time. Okay?" She sighed.

"Does that mean I'm connected to him?" 

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes Jude! Alright? Now lay back down and go to sleep. I think we're going to need to talk to Professor Dumbledore about your problem." 

Jude moaned. "I don't want tooooooo." 

"Hush and close your eyes!"

 

•

 

Professor Dumbledore only asked that Jude owl him the details of his visions and their contents, along with popping out of class every so often to talk with him about it, which Jude thought lame, but obliged.

Before going to breakfast, Jude decided to sit down and compose a letter to Tati and Paris. 

Hey wankers,

There's your fun British slang word of the day, you can probably figure out what that means. Paris, you were right about the black dog being an animagus, I'll tell you who it is in person when I see you both next, I'll tell you everything. I apparently have some sort of relation to this person, which is sort of scary, seeing as he's a very... prominent figure here in Europe. How was Halloween? I stayed behind on the Hogsmeade trip to hang out with Harry Potter! SO amazing. SO great. I can FEEL the power radiating off of him. I'm in consistent AWE when I'm around him. 

HOW IS JOSH?

\- Jude :)

The day prior to this one, Professor Snape had filled in for Professor Lupin, who was out of comission and no one but Jude and possibly the ever-so-intelligent Hermione knew why. Snape opted to drop several hints about Lupin's reason of absence, making the hate Jude bore for Snape greater than it ever was.

That morning was the day of the Quidditch match Jude'd had a very nasty vision about, and decided to tell Harry, against Dumbledore's request to withhold the information. 

Jude stuffed the letter from Josh addressed to himself with hearts into his back pocket with red-hot cheeks, and then went to wish Harry good luck.

"Good luck everyone." He said amicably to the Gryffindor team who'd chosen to all sit together that morning. They weakly smiled and gave him half grateful smiles. 

"Harry, could I talk to you for a second?" Jude inquired.

"Erm, sure." Harry stood up from his seat, and wordlessly followed Jude out of the Hall.

"What did you want to talk about?" Harry asked him in confusion, and that's when it hit Jude that Harry didn't even know Jude saw things, and he fought to explain the next bit of information he was going to say. 

"Harry... I... I have to tell you something that's going to happen to you, and I can't explain it, but you're going to have to trust me, and you can't tell anyone else that I told you this." Jude's eye twitched in irritation. That wasn't a very smooth explanation.

"Uh, alright?" 

"Basically, Harry... I am in no way saying this to scare you or anything, but, today on the pitch, there's going to be a whole bunch of dementors, and you're going to fall off of your broom, but you won't like, die, or anything, and Gryffindor loses the match." He got out, and spoke once more upon seeing the look of apprehension on Harry's face, "I can't prove to you I'm right, I'm just telling you to please watch out, and be careful out there today... actually, give me your glasses."

He handed them over, still puzzled, as Jude cast, "Impervius!"

"What did that do?" 

"Your glasses are waterproof now. You're welcome. Don't dwell on what I told you too hard. I know I sound insane, but... you'll see. And good luck!"

"Er, thanks?"


	7. Chapter 7

Everything happened just as he said it would. 

And usually, Jude would feel a sense of pride and, maybe... superiority... when his visions occurred as he saw them. 

But he felt his visions were different now. And it was because of Harry. What was so different Harry Potter? Why was his visions of him more prevalent? More intense? 

Despite having warned Harry beforehand, he still couldn't help but feel an unwavering sense of guilt, as he stared at an unconscious Harry with twisting, trembling hands. Partly from how he was shaking like a soaked leaf. 

"Harry!" Fred exclaimed first, "How're you feeling?"

"What happened?" He inquired, sitting up rather quickly for someone who had just fallen something feet out of the sky, causing his visitors to gasp dramatically. 

Rolling his eyes, Jude gently pushed Harry back down onto the cot, smiling soothingly. "You fell off your broom, a good amount of feet from the sky—"

"—yeah, I'd say about 50." Fred interjected. 

"We thought you'd died," said Emma, a deep frown on her wet face.

"B-but at the match—what happened? Are we doing a replay?" 

Jude bit his lip guiltily, touching Harry's arm carefully. 

Harry's eyes flicked to Jude for a brief second, and something like realization shone in his eyes, and he turned back to his teammates, uttering, "We didn't—lose?"

George selected to relay the bad news, "Diggory got the snitch just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square... even Wood admits it." 

"Where is Wood?"

"Still in the showers," Fred told him, "We think he's trying to drown himself." 

Harry buried his face in his knees, hands twisting into fists in his hair. Jude's eyes widened, and panic settled into his chest when he registered the familiar position his friend was in, and he froze, before regaining his senses, and taking him by the shoulders. 

"Harry, calm down, it's alright. Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal. Just breathe. What happened, happened. You can't change it, it just happened."

His breathing significantly slowed, and he reemerged from his knees with flushed cheeks and a grateful half smile. 

"Harry, c'mon, you've never missed the snitch before." 

"There had to be one time you didn't get it."

Jude closed his eyes and tried to remember what he was forgetting... he told himself he'd do something but... what? 

Ah, right. A letter to Josh. 

"We'll come and see you later," Fred told Harry, "Don't beat yourself up. You're still the best seeker we've ever had."

The ever so dirty and drenched Gryffindor Quidditch team waltzed out of the hospital wing, leaving behind Jude, Ron, and Hermione. 

"Dumbledore was really angry." Hermione said in a shaky voice.

"He stopped you midair and summoned, like, half of a patronus and shot it at the dementors." Jude said.

"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," said Ron. "And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were — " 

Jude noticed that Harry hadn't cut the bit where Ron had cut himself off. He wasn't there, his mind was wandering.

"Did someone get my nimbus?"

Jude then felt even worse than before. 

"When you fell off, it got blown away..." Hermione began hesitantly.

"And?"

"And it... it hit the Whomping Willow, Harry." Jude told him with a grimace. 

"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," Hermione said quietly, proceeding to shove a bag in his lap, and watch his face fall as he sifted through the splintered pieces. 

Harry just swallowed, and Jude had a small idea of what was racing through his mind with twitching fingers. He felt very guilty. He saw this coming, he knew this was going to happen and he told him and he didn't believe him, he thought he should've done something that would have benched him in the match, but that wouldn't have been any better, would it? 

Madam Pomfrey had just came by and gently let them know that Harry was to remain in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the weekend. 

Harry was blank. And Jude was confused. 

"Jude, I need to ask you something..." Harry began.

"Yeah?" He'd replied.

"Erm, alone." Harry told him, shooting Ron and Hermione looks. Ron's eyebrows furrowed, but Hermione shot him a suggestive smile and they obliged, shuffling out of the Hospital Wing. 

"How did you know this was going to happen?" He asked quietly. Jude cringed. 

"Harry, I can't—"

"I've thought about it so many times, but nothing is reasonable enough to be true. I mean, I have one theory, but there's lots of inconsistencies, and it just doesn't add up Jude. How did you know that I was going to fall? And that the dementors would be there? How?"

Jude closed his eyes, exhaling sharply. "Because I saw it." 

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, and asked none-too-intelligently, "What?"

Jude fidgeted, "I saw it happen. I passed out the night that Sirius Black broke into Gryffindor tower and saw it happening."

He's still confused and Jude really didn't want to come out and explain his ability openly. It was Harry Potter, and what if it got out? Jude was paranoid. 

"You're some sort of psychic, then? You can see the future?"

Jude bit his lip. "Basically... I hope you understand that this has to be a 'I don't know, if that's what you think' sort of situation—"

"Why?"

He stared at Harry pointedly and crossed his arms. "It's sort of obvious, isn't it? I don't only tell prophecies. I don't see things the way Professor Trelawney or Cassandra what's-her-face do, and-and that's dangerous in this time and age, Harry. I just... I wanted to warn you. I knew this was going to happen, and you're my friend, so naturally I..."

"I get it. Thanks, for looking out for me, Jude." Harry said abruptly, and with a smile, though Jude was able to see this curious look in his eye, a different kind of fondness he'd never seen before. He hardly had time to process it, before he noticed how low the sun had set in the sky. 

"Oh, shit! It's dinner, I was supposed to talk to my mom, Jesus—I have to go. I'll come back later, see you soon, Harry, bye!" Jude shot up, gave Harry's arm a nice friendly pat and sprinted out of the Hospital Wing as though his ass we're on fire.

Ron and Hermione walked back in, Ron, still looking stupidly confused, and Hermione with an irritating, all-knowing smirk on her face. 

"What?" Harry asked defensively. 

"Erm, alone." She mocked.

"Piss off."

•

Jude had received a reply from his friends the next morning at breakfast, from Tati and Paris then Josh, respectively. 

Ayo Jude, 

Hey buddie. Thanks for the word. Haha. Wanker. A PROMINENT FIGURE IN EUROPE? ARE YOU CONGREGATING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER YOUNG MAN? Josh will be very disappointed to hear this. AND SPEAKING OF SAID YOUNG MAN, he still has not given up on you, little Jude. I personally believe that you should still get together........ unless you found a cute lad to replace our Josh, in which case, JUDE, YOU PLAYER! He talks about you all the time. He really misses you. I made him send you a letter, he was too shy to send one on his own. 

Anyway! Onto that animagus business. I believe I have some idea of what you might be talking about, but I'm not sure how you're in any way related to this person? Please send updates! Ilvermorny is boring! Scotland's where it's at! WHAT IF I BEGGED MY MOM TO LET ME TRANSFER UGH TWINS. 

\- Tati <|:)  (it has a hat) 

Right underneath Tati's clusterfuck of a letter, was the beginning of Paris's. 

Dear Jude, 

You know Tati broke my fucking quill writing that? She lost all hers in the span of however long it's been so far. Utterly pathetic. Please send us Europe candy for Christmas. Please. I'll give you my life. 

And of course I was right about the dog being an animagus! I'm always right! I'm the best. I'm disappointed you haven't given us an analysis of the dementors on the grounds, I heard they've made your (apparently) good friend Harry Potter fall off of a broomstick and pass out. Poor guy. Speaking of poor guys, Tati has yet to stop pestering Josh with thoughts of you and him 'getting together.' She also sincerely believes that her mother, and my mother, will let us transfer to Hogwarts next year. The thought is nice but not plausible. She's getting her hopes up. Let her down nicely, will you, Jude? You're much better at getting her to realize the reality of things.

Hope your year's going good so far! 

Your friend,

Paris. 

"Your friend's name is Paris?" Fred Weasley asked loudly over Jude's shoulder as he read his letter. 

Jude flushed and scrambled to fold the parchment back up, knocking over a goblet of pumpkin juice in the process, as the twins laughed at his clumsiness. 

"Yes. His name is Paris. After the character in Romeo and Juliet." He answered composedly. 

George titled his head. "Romeo and Juliet?" 

"Uh, yeah? Shakespeare?" 

"Now, it's just rude to make things up, Jude." Fred tsked, shaking his head. 

"You're joking!" Jude exclaimed. "It's literally the most famous play ever written! How do you not know it!" 

"Just don't." They answered together, and then a terrifying expression crossed their faces. "A play, you say?" 

"Uh... yes?" Jude was hesitant to answer upon seeing their expressions.

"Could you get us a copy of this fine literary work?" George asked dramatically, in the worst American accent Jude had ever heard. 

"Shakespeare was English, but sure... and I'm afraid to ask this, but, why?" 

They both just continued to grin at him. "Say, Jude, how good is your British accent?"

"Oh no..."

In the span of 10 seconds, they had mentally formulated a plan to put on Romeo and Juliet and informed Jude of this upon receiving his copy of the story, and expressed to him that they wanted to Jude and Harry to play the lead roles, Jude then defensively asserted that they would not be playing Juliet or Romeo.

They'd pouted. "Awww, why not?"

Jude reddened, "Wh-where would we even put on a show! Who would approve? No one! This isn't happening! AND not to mention, if you haven't noticed, I'm not a girl!"

They both got sly smiles on their face, "But Jude, wasn't the role originally played by a man, because women couldn't participate in theatre back in that time?" 

Jude was just about to pass out from the amount of blood rushing to his cheeks. "W-well, uhm, yeah, I mean, but—"

"Is there some other reason you wouldn't want to play Juliet?" Fred asked cheekily. 

"No! Shut up! I know what you're getting at and frankly, you're both wrong and annoying! If you want to do the show so much why don't you play Romeo and Juliet!?" Jude exclaimed. 

They paused, turned to look at each other, while the same irritating smiles stretched across their dumb faces, and apparently the both of them knew what the other was thinking. 

"What an excellent idea, Judey, dear." George spoke. 

"I will take on Romeo, and George'll be Juliet, and Jude, you'll be..." Fred flopped through the pages excitedly. "...Lady Montague or Capulet!"

"WHAT—?"

"And Harry shall portray Lord Montague or Capulet! Good heavens, George, who do you think should play Paris?" 

"WAIT! WHY AM I LADY—?" 

"What a remarkable inquiry, Freddie! Hmmm, perhaps our own Ickle Ronnikins can play it!"

Jude had finally reached the limit of his patience. "That's it! I'm done! I'm leaving! Goodbye!" 

"JUDE! WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN REHEARSAL BEGINS!"

He had raced out of the Great Hall and clashed into someone—Draco Malfoy, specifically—and apologized briefly before going to find something else to do other than get hassled into doing a wizarding Shakespearean play, like talk to his mother, but Malfoy's hand shot out like lightning and gripped Jude's wrist. 

Jude paused, and ripped his wrist from Malfoy's grasp. "What?"

Malfoy blushed, cleared his throat, and straightened up. "Uh, erm, would you... gotoHogsmeadewithme?"

Jude blinked. "Excuse me?" 

"Would... you... go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Jude surveyed the now vulnerable bully before shooting him a smoldering gaze. "You're kidding, right?"

His face hardened. "No, I'm not. Will you?"

"I'm not in the mood to play games, I'll see you in potions. I need to go." Was all Jude said before whirling around and searching for his mother with wide eyes. 

"Mommyyyyy!" He shouted once he spotted her. She groaned and gave him a glare. 

"What do you want, child?" 

"We need to have that discussion still! About a certain escapee! And mommy, someone asked me to go to HOGSMEADE WITH THEM. This is not okay! I don't want to!" He cried dramatically, waving his arms about in an exaggerative manner and frowning.

"I think we should focus on the Hogsmeade part! You're too young to date! Okay!?" His mother exclaimed with wide eyes. 

He pouted. "Nope. We need to talk about our pal named after an apparently nonexistent color, mom. Now someone needs to round up Max so we can have this very anticipated family meeting." 

She sighed. "Alright, then, Jude."

Max arrived, oblivious and confused as ever, and their mother directed them to an empty classroom, casting a complex locking charm Jude had never heard before on the door, as well as a muffling charm. 

Jude decided to pipe first, "You, Max, and I are all connected to Sirius Black in some way. How is that?"

His mother inhaled sharply. "He's... your father."

Jude's eyes bulged. "I wasn't expecting that, Jesus Christ! Wait! We came to Hogwarts for him?!" 

Max wrapped his arm around Jude, in an attempt to soothe his heightening temper. 

"Mom, if he murdered people, why would we come here? If people know we're related to him, his sons, no less, everyone'll give us a hard time." Max pointed out smartly, slightly shocking Jude, and evidently their mother, who scrambled to reply. 

"Whatever little arsehole dares to make fun of either of you will never hear the end of it from any of the professors. You can count on that boys." She sighed deeply. "But... when you really love someone... it's so easy for some to look past what they've done. I have my own beliefs about his situation, but I would never put either of you in deliberate danger. Hogwarts is safe." 

"Mom, I don't think we are safe. I mean, what if he was looking for us too in Gryffindor Tower? What if the dementor smells, like, I don't know, Sirius Black on us and attacks us next?" Jude questioned, newfound fear swelling in his chest. 

"That won't happen." She swore with tears brimming in her eyes, "Sweetheart, I promise, I'll protect you. Nothing will happen to either of you, okay?"

"Mom..." Jude jumped up and hugged her, tightly, Max joining in seconds later.

"Mom, is Sirius Black an illegal animagus? Is that how he escaped?" 

She dabbed at her eyes hurriedly. "Most likely. And yes, he is."

"If you and Professor Lupin know... oh my god." Jude said, snapping his fingers. "You and Professor Lupin know each other because you were all friends with him! You, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black were friends! And- and-" another epiphany hit him, "—I think- is Professor Lupin why he became an illegal animagus?" 

His mother's mouth was still parted in shock after he finished piecing a good portion of the story together, her youngest son was in Ravenclaw for a reason. She looked to Max, who was somehow still keeping up and processing the information at a steady pace. 

"Yes, you're right. You're completely right." Was all she was able to say. 

"Why didn't you tell the ministry? You or Lupin? What if you- what if they find out and you know and then you go to jail?!" Jude's hands had unknowingly flew to his hair to rip and tug. 

"Jude, stop!" Max latched onto his wrists prying them out of his hair. 

"This- it- I-" he gasped, "Max, I'm about to have a vision."

"O-okay!" Max stammered, catching his brother before he plummeted to the ground. 

It wasn't one vision, it was two. 

First, he saw an executioner in the shrubby area behind Hagrid's hut, and the poor, gentle Hippogriff called Buckbeak fastened to poles hammered in the ground by rope. 

The executioner raised his blade high in the air, causing sunlight to glint off of it, before swinging it to the ground, slicing Buckbeak's head clean off his body. 

The scene changed again, while pulsating pain exploded in Jude's forehead. He groaned miserably, feeling a wet rag covering his forehead before he was fully thrusted into a new scene. 

There's trees everywhere, but just the start of them, Jude suspects he's at the beginning of the Forbidden Forest. It's almost nightfall, and there's a big, ugly tree before him. 

Jude heard what he thought was first heavy footsteps on the grass, turning out to be the sound of paws slamming onto the ground, when Sirius Black in his animagus form appeared, Ron Weasley's pants wound in his mouth. He took off toward the Whomping Willow, to the foot of the tree, and suddenly, its branches froze, no longer swinging around in the air wildly, and they disappeared, footsteps followed, but Jude came too before he could see who they belonged to. 

Jude shot up with a gasp, surprised to see he was still in the empty classroom with his mom and brother. He holds his head, and begins to relay his visions to them. 

"Buckbeak loses the appeal that Harry, Hermione, and Ron were working on," he said with a frown, "and, and he-Dad?-Sirius Black drags Ron Weasley to the Whomping Willow, and he did something, I don't know what, and the it just stopped moving its branches like crazy, and then I heard more footsteps, and that's when the vision got cut off."

His mother runs a hand through her hair, looking absolutely exhausted. "Remember the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, as you both probably have figured out, Professor Lupin is a werewolf. When he went to Hogwarts, he would undergo transformations there." She explained. 

"That's why Sirius is going to go to the Whomping Willow... but... why?" Jude said in frustration. 

"Boys, it's almost time for class, don't stress over this. I think we just need to see how it pans out... Jude, tell me what's in your next vision, alright, honey? Have a good day, both of you." 

•

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was long lol. 
> 
> Please remember that this is my first time writing a like, serious, actual Harry Potter fanfiction! If anything, like order of events, aren't making any sense please let me know so I can check it out and fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading !! 💗💗


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